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Early meetings with the Lincoln Park client determined their desire for an "urban oasis". Both the client and designer agreed that "city chic" could be a marriage of styles and forms while still effectively communicating the space.
It was determined that no lawn would be incorporated into the extra wide city lot. The space would need to be open for the children’s rollerblading and effectively convertible to useable entertainment space for adult gatherings.
One mature locust and one enormous mulberry were retained and ivy on the neighbor’s wall was inherited. The balance of existing materials were removed.
The designer opted to configure the bluestone in a jack-on-jack pattern, requiring that each piece be precisely cut to provide the ordered appearance of indoor tile. Joints are filled with bluestone screenings, providing a monochromatic appearance. The main patio is connected via a curved walkway to a sequestered private conversation space which is adjacent to a home office.
All the planting beds on the project are raised, and they are dry-laid, hand-chiseled and traditional in appearance.
As the patio and wall work neared completion the designer and homeowner together tagged an assortment of specimen plants. Among the selections are Acer palmatum, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ and the rare Parrotia persica. Based on their size, all the trees but one needed to be lifted into the back gardens by an 80-ton crane and set in individual planting pits. A mix of Astilbe, Hakanochloa and Hydrangea provide the bulk of the seasonal color and are accented by small pockets of ground cover and an occasional Hosta for variation. Proximity to Lake Michigan allows the normally fragile Hakanochloa to thrive in this Zone 6 microclimate. Teak furniture was selected for its neutrality and also for ease of movement to open the space for skateboarding and rollerblading.
Much like organic landscaping, city chic and urban oasis are broad-based terms without strong definition and probably without professional meaning. But maybe they can only be visually identified when they are accomplished, as in "I’ll know it when I see it". This Lincoln Park garden has been featured twice nationally and, yes, it was indeed referenced by St. Louis garden writer, Barbara Ballinger, in Great Backyards magazine as "city chic".
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